New fees in airline tickets

Iowans may have to pay a little more to fly in the coming months. The federal government wants to raise security fees to a maximum of $16 per trip — that’s up from the current ten dollars a ticket. Travel agent George Wozniak says it’s worth the price. “The proof in the pudding is we have not had a problem since 9/11, so it tells you at least what they’re doing so far is working quite well,” he says. If the new security fees become effective it could affect airlines’ bottom lines. For example, Northwest estimates it will lose $150 million a year because it won’t be able to charge passengers as much for tickets in order to keep prices level. “After 9/11 where the government took over securing all of the commercial flights, I don’t think they really had any idea what that was going to cost and this is the adjustment to pick up the difference between what it costs and the fees that are already in place,” he says. A trade group representing several major airlines says the proposal would raise security fees by $1.5 BILLION a year.